A week-long visit to the Russian Federation reveals the hidden strength and weaknesses of a nation; the thick and thin of a country’s amazing history, art and culture plus the global consequences of transition from monopoly to a market economy. Adewale Adeoye who was in St. Petersburg reports:
We arrived to meet a mourning nation. The trees stood silent, the flowers did not respond much to the slow, chilly wind. The sky wore the colour of death; the cloud was mucky. 224 Russians had just been killed in a ghastly plane crash on the Saturday that our Emirate Airline touched town in historic St. Petersburg. But instead of boiling with resentment against their leaders, the grief rather bonded a people raised to be tough, hard and resilient. I was attending a United Nations, (UN) conference against corruption which drew close to 1000 participants, many visiting the Russian Federation for the first time ever.
A visitor’s first impression is carved in gold right from the port of entry. We met an extremely courteous, efficient and dutiful retinue of immigration officials, in spite of the tragedy that has just befallen their country. As we drove through the thrilling boulevards of a city home to about five million people and one of Europe’s civilization pillars, my heart skipped intermittently in a miasma of shock and excitement.
Is this Russia that I read so many odd stories about? After an hour drive from the Airport, a friend companion scribbled in his diary, “Oh Russia, why art thou hid thy strength and the burning firmament of thy might?” Amazement! The Russia federation amazed many of us visiting for the first time. The worse thing is to visit a society with a shoulder-load of prejudices and stereotypes, sticking like a stubborn stain.
Since we arrived at dawn, the city was half asleep. But as we inched into her vast vowels, snaking through tributaries of roads, separated by heart-rending canals, the city gradually walked up warmly to visitors, like a strong, affectionate, but old grandma. The buildings bore antique images of history and majesty.
What struck the visitors first were the huge, massive housing structures that stretch like an endless collection of sedimentary rocks. In Russia, government builds homes for her citizens. A diplomat in the Ghanaian Foreign Service told our correspondent that each building has an underground apartment reinforced with concrete and that each was built with underground compartments meant to shield the communities from possible wars that may involve atomic attacks.
A West European official who had lived in Russia for years told our correspondent that Russian housing units were built with conception of war and peace, following the old axiom of the Chinese father of military science, Sun Tzu, whose motto was ‘when in war, prepare for peace; when in peace prepare for war”. Yes. This appears a nation built on the ashes of martyrs: in 1916, during the World War 1, Russia lost five million people; dead, taken as prisoners of war or missing. The country fought two bitter World Wars, in which over 27 million souls perished; 1, 710 towns and cities wiped off and 71, 000 villages burnt down. “We are a product of a tough history. This is why we value human rights; we are cautious about wars, we are also quick to confront enemies of our nation’, Peter Rochovish told me as we sat down for a meal of oriental shrimps, rice and desert in a Sunday evening held in awe by a zero temperature weather.
He said the West ‘spreads wicked propaganda and lies” against Russia, portraying “our country as underdeveloped.” He said fiercely, but without any iota of arrogance: “We are a world power in economy, science and the military. The West sees Russia as a bitter rival and seeks to destroy us.”
The Russian-West feud is legendary and for obvious reasons. The old Soviet Union pivoted the modern socialist revolution, thereby becoming the property-seeking and individualistic West’s chief Albatross. In 1917, Vladimirovich IIya nicknamed Lenin led the momentum that altered the map of human history and civilization, a zeal that sharply redefined the form and content of world politics. The Soviet Union did not only become the model for peasants and the exploited poor in the entire Europe, leading to worker’s revolts, she gave impulsion to deadly uprising in the world’s most populous nation, China; stirred the revolutions in Cuba, Vietnam, the entire Latin America; strengthened revolutionary movements in Africa and the Middle-East and provided an alternative economic paradigm to blood-faced capitalism. Though the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the remnants of the ideology remains and continue to fuel succeeding liberal democratic and anti-imperialist campaigns in Asia, Africa and a sizeable portion of Europe. To a large extent, Russia inherited the alternative ideology. So, within the context of influence, economic control and manipulation of the continent, to most of the western media and governments, Russia is the devil czar, an “underdeveloped and human rights violator.”
But millions of visitors that throng this country are making new discoveries about Russia’s potential and opportunities. About 10 million foreign visitors scramble to visit Russia yearly in the post-Soviet era. And one great nectar is St. Petersburg , the second largest city in the Russian Federation; and by far the biggest city in Europe that is not a capital. Of attraction is also the bourgeoning market economy that is rich in cheap, qualitative made-in-Russia products, ranging from essentials to supersonic cars, building materials, heavy-duty equipment, aircraft to top class furniture; offering the cheapest costs in the entire Europe. Contrary to the impression that Russians do not eat well, food here is unimaginably cheap and qualitative. “I’m surprised that Russia stands shoulder higher than many Western European countries I have visited” a South African diplomat told our correspondent in a chat over dinner days after we arrived.
However, we did not see the grandeur of St. Petersburg, our chief host until the night of a Thursday after we were honoured with a scintillating barley dinner dance arranged by our host, the aged governor of the St. Petersburg province, Georgy Poltavchenko. As he walked into the silhouette backed with glittering neon lights beaming on his rostrum, he charmed the audience with his magical voice: “I welcome you to St. Petersburg, a city of history, a city of proud and honest people.” He added that the strength of his country is that the fight against corruption has been part of the history of the Russian people which makes the country to endure. After the show, the former EFCC boss, Ibrahim Lamorde, sitting close to him told me: “This country is good, excellent.” Russians are believed to be largely friendly, morally upright and non-discriminatory.
Hardly will any visitor come here without being enraptured by St. Petersburg’s own intriguing account. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, St. Petersburg was the imperial capital of the country for two centuries. It is a city that has seen intrigues, betrayals, torture, wars and triumphs. All these, plus the 1917 revolution combined in defining her strength. Russian historical cities are legendary. For instance, the Hermitage Museum was built 250 years ago and remains one the world’s biggest and most prestigious museum; the Winter Palace was built in 1723 and was the official residence of the Russia monarch. The St. Isaac’s Cathedral or Isaakievskiy Sobor, which is the largest Cathedral in the world is located at St. Isaac’s square. It was opened in 1818. There are the Church of our Saviour of Spilled Blood, carved on the spot where Emperor Alexander II was murdered in 1818, with its colourful onion dinner, the Catherine palace, built by the czar who hired a German architect Johann Friedrick Braunstern to construct a summer palace for her. I had no answer to a poser by a friend: these monuments were built after the Benin Empire and the Ife Dynasty. Ife was established over 1000 years after St Petersburg. How come we could not reach this height? Our king’s palaces are badly kept and poorly managed!
Apart from the fact that Lenin’s 1917 revolution shot Russia hundred fold into global dominance, the current leaders, since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, have ensured the dramatic growth in economy. To most Russians, Vladimir Putin is an electrifying leader, intelligence, honest and dependable. Since Putin came, the GDP, for instance, has gone to 70% of industrial growth. Investments under Putin have increased by 125%, making Russia among the 10 world economic powers. This has been backed by government’s control of substantial part of the oil and gas sector. Rosnoft, the country’s largest state controlled oil company went public in 2006. Russia employs about 600,000 in her automobile industry. In 2008, it produced 1,469,098 light vehicles, controlling about 3 percent of total world production. A top Nigerian official told our correspondent that the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund was tailored after Russia’s Stabilization Fund. The fund has reached over 30 billion dollars and has now been split into Reserve Fund, to shield the country from financial stocks slide, and also the National Welfare Fund largely reserved for pension reform. One major challenge pointed out by many visitors is that little is known about Russia especially in Africa and little is done her government to tame the wrong sordid images being created about the country. Another Nigerian official told our correspondent that Nigeria needs to tap from Russia’s economic might. He said Russian goods are cheaper while the country’s leaders are honest and genuinely interested to see real development in Africa. It appears President Muhammadu Buhari is looking towards this direction. Only recently, Nigeria renewed the agreement between the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and Interfax, the Russian News Agency. Russia, an official told our correspondent, is sending a team to do a documentary on Nollywood, apart from an exchange programme designed for Nigerian youths to learn more about Russia in 2013. The trade between Nigeria and Russia is a modest 350 million dollars, but observers believe this is only a drop in the ocean considering the huge, inexhaustible opportunities between the two sovereign countries. As the plane touched down at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, no one needed to tell me I was back home. The MMA was as hot as oven, angry and furious officials shout on one another, there were no scanning machines to check the luggage of visitors. Touts with red-shot eyes prowled. I saw two engaged in a brawl, one had his teeth broken as blood gushed. Security officials watched. This was complemented by a huge rat that scurried through my legs as I hurried to meet suntanned faces waiting at the arrival hall. One of the children waiting for me exclaimed: “Daddy, what did you buy? No light. Mosquito nearly kill us.”
waleadeoye90@yahoo.com
